Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:23 am  

Word over on Redvee is that the League Express is reporting that the non-fed limit will be increased from 5 to 7 next year, with the traditional quota staying at 5. So, in other words, room for a couple of Kolpak stiffs or Aussies with (ahem) Italian passports. Can anyone verify this?

Personally, I think this would be a terrible backwards step. Now that players with non-fed exemptions are starting to retire and are getting replaced by homegrown players we have more competition for places in the international side than we've had for years. This rule change will just bring back the lame desparation signings of the late 90s/early 00s that relegation threatened teams used to make instead of trusting their own young players.

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:49 am  

Reduce the size of the league but increase the number of imports?

Genius move.

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:53 am  

Terrible move for me, too.
Clubs are just about starting to produce youngster across the board. We already know the quality of imports is going to decrease due to NRL salaries, so goodness knows how poop some of the lame ducks coming over could end up.

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:08 am  

I'm guessing here, as I've not seen the report, but I'll bet this is a product of the system we have whereby rules are voted in or out by Super League clubs. Because relegation is coming back next season, with two going down, all of the clubs who perceive themselves to be facing a conceivable risk of relegation (probably about seven or eight clubs) will have voted this in so that they can bolster their ranks with second-rate Tongans.

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:50 am  

Not sure of the point of this move. Seems to be an effort to undo all the previous work that has been done on academies.

With the reduction in academies, it sounds like a cost saving exersize. Don't invest in UK youth, just buy a ready made foreigner.

Also could the number of players at Salford have any impact on this?? No-one really spelled out how they got all their players into the team. I counted 6 non-fed.

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:09 pm  

Is the good Dr getting his way?

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:18 pm  

Terrible idea, if we're going to be the poor cousins, at least let us have home grown players

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 5:15 pm  

Shocking by the RFL. Its a kick in the teeth for clubs investing in youth for our next generation of players, might interest HKR or Salford for short term gain.
Is this the RFL new model of "Framing for the Future".

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:56 pm  

This is an inevitable change following the clubs voting to commit slow suicide by cutting back on youth development.

There will probably be a further increase in the import allowance in years to come as the clubs have requested the RFL take responsibility for player development completely out of their hands.

Apparently the alternate plan from the RFL is for local authority colleges to run RL courses for possible players. Were these colleges will get the funding from when they are having budgets slashed is another thing all together.

Only a small select group of clubs will keep their own in house development organisations the rest will do without.
The city of Hull is one RL heartland in which both clubs are looking to get out of RL player development entirely.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that the medium and long term consequences for the game will be catastrophic.

The current goings on in London whereby the Broncos have laid off all development staff and are basically running what amounts to a pub team, is the future the game is heading for in much of its so called heartland.

Without development the game will be dead within this country within a decade.

Re: Change to non-fed system? : Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:32 pm  

This just seems like a crazy system.

Whatever happened to investing in the future.

It's one of the quickest ways to kill the game, get less and less people playing it.